Confessions of an Internet Addict, Ctd

Newsweek's coversplash was based on nothing more than "a blog post, a quote and a single case study." Furthermore:

The internet ‘rewires the brain’ – which I should hope it does, as every experience ‘rewires the brain’ and if your brain ever stops re-wiring you’ll be dead. Dopamine is described as a reward, which is like mistaking your bank statement for the money. There are some scattered studies mentioned here and there but without any sort of critical appraisal. Methodological problems with internet addiction studies? No mention. The fact that the whole concept of internet addiction is a category error? Not a whisper. The fact that prevalence has been estimated to vary between 1% and 66% of internet users. Nada

Sadly, these sorts of distorted media portrayals have a genuine impact on the public’s attitudes and beliefs about mental illness.

The neuroscientist who wrote the above response seems to know what he's talking about. Though when I read the article I thought of it as more a response to the change in the way people think, not as a response to the 're-wiring' of the brain by technology, as the magazine's columnist put it. Nevertheless, I think that the science here is worth exploring. Citations and thoroughly evidenced arguments, though? Now there's a criticism worth sticking to.

You can see the original post on the story here.